I will be heading to Beijing with my family (wife, 2 kids 3 & 5, parents) for a week in early April. We will be staying with relatives and have a car at our disposal. I've been to Beijing quite a few times before but it has always been for business so I'm at a loss as a tourist.

What would be your suggested day-by-day itinerary?? We'd like to have some activities for the kids but we can also dump them with relatives every now and then.

Restaurant suggestions are also welcome!!!

Kids are a bit young to really enjoy the great wall. The hike from Jinshanling to Simatai is breathtaking. You can do the shorter trip with them, or leave them at home for a day. The 1/2 day walk between the two entrances is simply spectacular.

Suggestions:

Zoo (pandas) & Summer Palace (could be a lazy day each, or both in one day)
Tianenmen Square / Forbidden City
Back Lakes (book a dinner boat)
Temple of Heaven / Antiques Market (close to each other)
Hutong visit

Consider a day trip to Xi'an to see the warriors. Flights are cheap on ctrip.com

Agree with everything except for zoo (Portland's zoo is 100x better) and "day trip to Xi'an".

Would also suggest some of the outlying parks (e.g. Xiangshan) since OP has a car.

Finally, much depends on where the OP's relatives live.

Thanks for the suggestions. I believe we'll be staying inside of the Third Ring Road (west).

It's not the worlds most beautiful zoo by far. But, it does have a few interesting exhibits. The purebred dog exhibit is one of them. Never seen that anywhere else. And of course the Pandas.

Moondog, what don't you like about a day trip to xi'an? You think it's really a multi-day trip? Or other?

Xi'an is great, but the day trip idea is a bit aggressive, especially with small children in tow. Furthermore, the night market (and associated foods) is one of my favorite activities there.

I agree -- trying to do Xi'an in a single day trip is difficult at best, but also a bit pointless. There are many, many interesting things to see and do in Xi'an, and the city is worth a several-day in and of itself.

Skip the Beijing zoo. The maintenance of the animal pens is
all but non existent, they are filthy and rundown ...with garbage
floating around in what looks like cesspools instead of ponds.
The animals look very unhealthy. Its beyond depressing...its disgusting.

+1 on this and Ptravel's sentiments

I'm not expert on what young kids like, but I wouldn't think they'd find Tiananmen and the Forbidden City all that interesting. As the largest public square in the world, Tiananmen is impressive, as are all the government buildings that surround it and the monuments on it. Mao's tomb is interesting to visit on several levels, but I can't imagine taking a young child to see it. The Forbidden City is fascinating from the outside because . . . well, because it's the Forbidden City, a huge and impressive palace from which the Emperor of China and his court ruled. There are a number of small but very interesting museums within the Forbidden City but, again, I can't imagine they'd hold much interest for a 3-year old.

There is a large park in back of the Forbidden City, the name of which escapes me, that might be good for the kids. As I recall, there is a lake with pedal boots that you can rent, a small "mountain" with a Buddhist temple on the top that you can climb, and similar "active" things to do.

The Summer Palace is probably also a good bet -- it's a large park around a nice lake. We saw lots of kids there when we went and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. I'm also not sure how appealing the Temple of Heaven would be for kids.

Again, from a "kids" perspective, I'd skip the Hutongs unless you take a bicycle rickshaw -- the outside of the hutongs themselves are very plain and not of much interest, except to notice the stone lions, dogs and drums by the doors which give an indication of the original owner's status, and the few hutongs open to the public are either in very dilapidated shape or set up as "do not touch" museums. The kids might enjoy the be ridden around in the bicycle rickshaw, though (and you'll get a terrific photo opportunity ).

Beihai, methinks.

Thanks for the suggestions. We've narrowed down the sights we definitely want to do. They are as follows:

1. Great Wall - deciding between Mutainyu or Simatai. Will bring the kids for this one but won't be doing the hike.
2. Ming Tombs
3. FC & Beihai then rendezvous with kids/grandparents for dinner at Houhai.
4. Tiananmen & Wangfujing (w/kids)
5. Temple of Heaven & Antiques Market
6. Summer Palace
7. Beijing Zoo & Aquarium
8. Acrobat show at Chaoyang Theater

We still haven't thought about what days to do what or even if we can fit everything in.

What do you guys think?

Thanks everyone here.
I am also going to spend a week in Beijing.
This is a great To Do List. Personally I am thinking that not going to the zoo and show. Does anyone recommend Chengde or somewhere else?
Thanks

[QUOTE=afterglow;13376334]1. Great Wall - deciding between Mutainyu or Simatai. Will bring the kids for this one but won't be doing the hike.

If you're going as far as Simatai you might as well venture just a few km further to Panlong Shan, vastly less touristy and renovated just enough to keep it together rather than rebuilt. No sideshows or cable cars, but easily mounted and fairly easy to proceed in either direction to spectacular views.

I'd omit. A real tourist bun-fight and the only excavated tomb, which you queue to descend to, has little in it. For tombs you need to make a day-trip to the Eastern or Western Qing tombs. Use the time elsewhere.

Hou Hai is now seriously tawdry, over-flowing with tacky bars blaring music transplanted from Sanlitun. I'd think of another location. If you want ease of use, charm, the more imaginative end of souvenirs, and choice of Chinese and foreign food, you might consider Nan Luogu Xiang.

Warning that Wangfujing will not impress anyone used to malls/shopping centres in the West. With the exception of the nominal presence of one or two lao zi hao ('time-honoured brands'--cloth shoes and hats, in particular) there's neither charm nor much in the way of Chineseness here, and plenty of foreign brands. A big Nike store, for instance.

Presumably this is the dreaded Hong Qiao? Then it's looking, no shopping. There are no real antiques on sale in China. None at all. If you are not an expert don't shop. If you are an expert you'll see nothing to buy. The same goes for pearls. There's a toy market just behind Hong Qiao with knock-off games and toys of all kinds, however.

Note: now easily reached by metro. Line 4 to Bei Gong Men station.

Zoo with caution. It has improved, but a dash into the panda enclosure and then an exit is probably best. Kindness and animals are not often seen together in China (notable exception: the Milu Deer Park well to the south of the city centre). And the aquarium? Why spend time on something you can get at home? If you're simply thinking of amusing the children then there's also the planetarium just across the road to the south, and the Ancient Animals exhibition (with dinosaur skeletons) just west of that, only a few mins walk. But wouldn't the time be better spent on something truly Chinese?

Well... made for tourists and over priced. And Shanghai is the real home of acrobatics (although very many of the performers supposedly come from the same Hebei village).

Chengde requires an overnight at least. An early morning bus (from Liuli Qiao) or more conveniently from the side of the road at San Yuan Qiao opposite the new Novotel to Chengde, followed by an afternoon and the following morning scampering round, and an early afternoon train ride back.

Peter N-H
China

Your point about the zoo is pretty much what I was trying to say upthread. In general, the animals are just plain sad,... but they do have Pandas.

As for the aquarium, I'd also pass on the BJ aquarium in a heartbeat. However, I simply adore the Shanghai Aquarium.